Editorials

Lessons From Four Footed Creatures

As many of you know, I am a dog lover. I've had dogs most of my life. I have learned some amazing lessons \from these four footed creatures, and over the next few months, I'd like to share some of the things they have taught me. Most of you who have followed Absolutely Gospel Music for a while are familiar with Winston. Winston was my 110 pound half Boxer and half German Shepherd who appeared in the commercials we did for the Awards Programs and the Annual Festivals. Unfortunately when I got married and moved, I had to let Winston go to a wonderful family of a Mother and two little girls. The girls love Winston as much as I do, and I feel very good about him being the protector of these sweet little girls. The good thing was that they were moving into the house that I had lived in with Winston.

At any rate, a few weeks ago there was a fire at the house of the new family Winston is living with. Everyone got out safely, but there was damage to the house, so they had to move to another place until the house they were in can be repaired. Let me back up and say that change is inevitable. Whether we want it or not, whether we like it or not, situations in life are going to bring about change. Winston had to face changes in his life four months ago, because there were changes in my life. I know he wasn't wanting those changes, but they were out of his control so they happened. When the fire happened there had to be another change. They had to move temporarily to an upstairs apartment. Winston has always had a fear of steps, especially going up them. They tried everything they could to get Winston to walk up the steps. He just refused to go up them, and at 110 pounds he was too heavy to carry up all those steps. As a result Winston had to move once again to a temporary different home until he can move back to the updated version of the home he lived in for nearly ten months. The good thing is that while it is different for him to be in another new place, it's not all bad. He had a huge back yard to run in, he has a couple of other four footed friends to play with in that big yard, and the changes will only make his life better.

I try to see Winston every time I go back to Nashville to assure him that while things have changed, his old life is not forgotten. He gets excited to see his old friend, but when those little girls come around, he's excited to be with his new life. Change is not always comfortable, but it is going to happen whether we want it or not.

I couldn't help but think about how change in Winston's life was a lot like change in Southern Gospel Music. Changes have come to SGM whether we like it or not. When change happens, we can never go back to the way it was. Even if we try, the people and things around us never let it go back exactly like it was. Those old recordings of four guys and a piano were great in their day using the technology they had, but things have changed. Hardly anyone has a turntable any more, and of those who do, a very few of those can play a 78 RPM record. I have a nice collection of old records that I like to take out and listen to from time to time. It's nostalgic and fun. I even put some of them on CDs to make it more convenient to listen to them, but the fact is that I prefer the sounds of today's recordings. I like the new sound of the updated technology. Yes, there are some who have over used stacks on their recordings, and there are some who have used too much instrumentation on their CDs, but overall, today's sound is much better than it was when the genre started.

So what am I trying to say? Change is inevitable in life and in our music. We can be in the minority and fight it and join the ranks of those who people outside our genre look at and label us as the the industry of outdated old gray hairs, or we can embrace change and go with what is new. If we go with it, we have the ability to have our input in how we are changing. If we fight it, change will still happen, but it will be without any of our taste or wants.

So, are we going to climb up the stairs and adapt to the new situation, or are we going to have to be put on the shelf while the changes go ahead and happen? Let's learn from Winston's mistake. Let's face the changes, as uncomfortable as they may seem at the time, and I believe time will show that our marvelous music will be better for it.